September 18, 2017

A long time ago, 2013 to be exact, I made a silly post on a battle pet that I would like implemented. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but eventually the little sea calf made its way into our collections. Over the years, I've seen many people request certain pets they would like, and I've even thought of a few more, but nothing enough to spark my creativity into motion. As I browsed through my Twitter timeline, I saw a request from Starcrow to the Warcraft developers for a bee battle pet. Now this was something that interested me!

We have many different types of insect like battle pets, but nothing that resembles a bee. My mind started thinking of all the honey comb nests around Pandaria. Then I remembered something about a lone little NPC that most players (even Horde) may not have ever noticed out in the old world. This poor little guy has been plagued with some insect troubles since Vanilla, and no one has even bothered to stop and help him. I think it may be time to change that.

So how would I add this pet in game? Well, our journey would take the player into the Northern Barrens and around a little area called Grol'dom Farm. You take a look around and notice that it's just another farm being attacked by the Razormane; nothing special at first glance.

You turn to leave, but out the corner of your eye you see this flash of green followed by the sound of buzzing and crying. Here the player will meet an orc child by the name of Trok who is being chased around by a swarm of bees! As Trok runs around, you can read his words in chat. He complains about the bees chasing him and then hints that bees should have stayed near the Dry Hills.

The player now has a decision to make. Do I stop for a moment and try to help this little orc or do I continue on? You decide you have nothing better to do, so you head north to investigate this bee business a little more. You head toward the Dry Hills and begin scouting around. In the area, you find an old caravan that is long forgotten. In the rubble you find a lootable bee crate that is perfect for the task.

With your bee crate in hand, you head back to Trok and are now able to talk to him. You are now prompted with text that allows you to capture the bees in the crate. Choosing this option awards the player with a Buzzing Box in their inventory, allowing the player to learn Buzz, a bee battle pet. Trok will thank you for helping him after all this time, and skips off gratefully back to the farm while you admire your new pet.

I know you may be thinking that this area isn't Alliance friendly, especially since Grol'dom Farm has low level guards around it. My solution to this is to make Trok's running path much broader so he's running in a bigger loop around the farm area so the Alliance player doesn't have to worry about being close and aggroing guards.

With Blizzard's recent love of adding puzzles for hidden mounts and things, I think this could be a neat little way to get people to the old world again. Adding an actual bee model would be interesting too because all we have currently are wasp-like and firefly models. Let's face it, most collectors love adding new and unique things to their collection, and I'm sure little Trok would be very appreciative to finally have some time to relax after all these years!

I'd love to do more of these in the future. If you have a suggestion for a battle pet, feel free to let me know in the comments below. Once again, a huge thanks to Starcrow for the inspiration for this post and allowing me to run with it! Please give them a follow, and if you want a bee battle pet, don't forget to ask nicely. Feel free to use the hashtag #SaveTrok to get this little orc some help and a bee into your collection!

August 17, 2017

It's been a long time since I posted here. I didn't forget, but life, illness, and other things have gotten in the way. Patch 7.2 has been out for a long time now, and it still feels like I'm just starting to actually touch the content. I guess that's the downfall of having new content so fast; you feel like you're never really caught up. That's not always a bad thing though, but I'm not here to complain. I'm here to talk a little more about was something that I didn't originally care about when it was mentioned: The Deaths of Chromie.

I guess it was a mistake on my part, but I wasn't really sure what it would be. I don't like to read too much into data-mined things either, because when it comes down to the patches, I like to be surprised. I originally thought it was going to be almost like a challenge where waves of enemies come to you to fight off. If Chromie died, you failed. What I got instead was a much better experience that left me wanting more single player content like this from Blizzard. I know Blizzard tapped into this by adding Pet Battle dungeons, which I don't love. I will admit that Deadmines is a lot better than Wailing Caverns. I hope they improve with more additions.

Back to Chromie. In the scenario, you're trying to figure out who is trying to, well, kill her. The whole thing first takes you to the different dragon shrines in Dragonsblight followed by different portals to different areas in Azeroth. In each area, you will working toward different objectives. Though some objectives can be unclear, once you know what to do, the majority are fairly easy. I am currently stuck on the Battle for Andorhal section. Though it's a bit frustrating having to try over and over, I know the satisfaction of getting it done will be worth it in the end!

As I said before, I really love this new trend of solo player content that I can jump into whenever I have the time. I do think players enjoy the flexibility of being able to jump into something they can work towards by themselves (such as the mage tower challenges) whenever they feel like it. I also like how this scenario offers some rewards such as a title, transmog, and minipets. These little treats keep you wanting to continue so you can collect everything. So the question I want to leave you with is, would you enjoy more single player content in Warcraft? And if you haven't tried the Deaths of Chromie yet, go now!

May 26, 2017

The end of the month is nearing. This has been a wonderful celebration, and I loved sitting down and thinking back on all the great memories this game has brought to me over the past 10 years! Before we bring this celebration to a close, I have one more post dedicated to my favorite memories from each expansion. Though not all of the expansions were as good as I would have liked them to be, I always try to make the best of things. I still continue to play this way to this day.

Burning Crusade

It's hard for me to say this is my all time favorite expansion, but it is a definite favorite because it was when I started playing the game. I raided in a top guild on my server, and I have great and frustrating memories of raid progression. The one kill that meant the most to me was Leotheras the Blind in SSC because it felt like we were stuck on him forever! On the night we were finally able to down him, I got an amazing sword that I kept with my up until the wardrobe was released! I also have really fond memories of doing dailies on the Isle of Quel'Danas when Sunwell was released. Me and Pigletoos felt like badasses once we became exalted and were able to afford those expensive (for the time) titles!

Wrath of the Lich King

I hear so many great things about this expansion, but to be honest, I took a long break during this one. I don't have as many memories during this time, but the ones I do have are pretty fun. I think this expansion event was one of my all time favorites. I loved seeing the necropolis popping up outside each major city and having the plague spread. I'm pretty sure I was one of the first to be infected on my server. I was in Undercity at the time I turned into a zombie. I managed to escape through the sewers and made it to Brill where I was sadly killed. After that, I spent most of my time in Shattrath City so I wouldn't be infected in the faction cities. The only other memory I have is spending way too much time in the Dalaran Sewers trying to fish up that ugly Giant Sewer Rat!

Cataclysm

During this expansion, my play style changed as I began to focus more on solo content and collecting. The addition of LFR definitely helped me become super casual. I have no regrets about that at all. This is the expansion where I got lucky in getting quite a few rare mount drops (Alar, TLPD, Aeonaxx) and this kick started a new obsession with mount collecting. Other than that, the only other memorable thing was being out in the world and coming back to a burning corpse because Deathwing passed over the zone. *sigh* This is also the expansion where most of my guild started playing. They definitely picked a perfect time as I think Cataclysm definitely turned the game to something newer players could easily set foot into.

Mists of Pandaria

I know a lot of people hated this expansion because LOLPANDAS, but sitting back and looking over everything, this is my all time favorite expansion. Everything was unique, looked so different, and the lore for the zones was really awesome. It seemed everywhere I turned I was either stopping to take a screenshot or to appreciate all the little details that was put into areas. During this time, my guild also began running things with me and Pigletoos. I also have really fond memories of us on the Timeless Isle. The day that it was released, I spent 12 hours online! Many other nights there I spent with my friends chatting and waiting for rare spawns to pop up (Huolon up!). The entire expansion was just wonderful in my eyes, and I often go back to those zones to relax and listen to the music.

Warlords of Draenor

As I said in my opening, despite an expansion not being so fun, I still try to make the best of it. While Warlords was probably my least favorite, I give props to Blizzard for telling a very good story through the questing in each zone. Sadly the end game suffered. I took advantage of garrisons and turned them into "gold farms". This expansion also gave me a chance to branch out with alts and focus on starting to roleplay with my worgen warlock. If I was too busy at the time, I don't think things would have worked out as well as they did. Once Tanaan Jungle came out, I do have fun memories of me and my guild doing our dailies late at night and pulling so much stuff! I can hear Rey screaming "RUN RUN!" over voice chat and us falling into the fel only to die a few seconds later. I live for silly moments like that.

I'm not going to put Legion on here since we're still in this expansion and there are still more things to experience. Of course there will be a post for that later on! Again, I want to thank you all for sticking with me during this month. I hope whether you're an older follower or a new one, I made you stop and think back on some memories you may have. Once again another successful celebration has happened, and I look forward to doing something again next year!

May 19, 2017

Since the release of the Warcraft cookbook, I've been cooking many things from it. This gave me a spark to sit down and sift through some of the recipes I've collected through the years. As I was shuffling though many handwritten sheets, this one little page fell out. It was written on a small piece of notebook paper and it was titled "Orc's Hot Coco". It was a small recipe and something that a person could easily remember though I decided to write it down since I'm very forgetful. I must have stuck it in with my books and forgot about it. Though I may have forgotten that I had this recipe, I definitely did not forget the person it came from.

I've been really fortunate to make many friends throughout the years that I've played WoW, and surprisingly some of those friends came from the first "real" guild I was ever in. I was only there for a few months, but we would PvP, run dungeons, and do other silly things. The guild name was Epic, but it contained silly alt characters. The guild is now lost to time, but I kept in touch with some of those people up until around MoP when I shifted around social media and became more private.

One of those people in that guild went by the name Orcofsteel. This all happened so long ago so details can be hard to remember. I do remember that yes, they played an orc, and I think it may have been a warrior. Most of us in the guild were around the same age, so naturally we just clicked. Everyone was easy to talk to and share things with. I remember one late night that Orc shared his favorite way to drink a relaxing mug of hot chocolate. It was nothing fancy at all, but I always loved hot drinks so I wrote down the ingredients (without any instructions) to try it out later on.

Many weeks later I remember Orc began to change. Something happened in his personal life, and he confided in the guild. I also remember him switching his character from an orc to an undead with the new name, Deathbearer. I remember some of our late night chats just sitting out near the sea, and I was lucky enough to still have a screenshot of one of those evenings. Eventually his playtime became less and less until one day he just stopped logging on. I'm not exactly sure what happened to him as there was no Real ID to add to keep track of friends at that time. I hope wherever he is, he's happy. I hope that if he sees this someday, it brings back some good memories of the guild.

So I sit here and enjoy my own mug of the stuff. I'm going to share it with you all because this post wouldn't be complete without the actual recipe. So here it is, a little more of a refined version of Orc's Hot Coco. Aka'Magosh!

Place the milk, hot chocolate mix, vanilla, and pumpkin spice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until all ingredients are dissolved. Turn off heat and steep Chai tea bag in the milk for 3-5 minutes (depending on how strong you want it). Discard tea bag and carefully pour into two mugs. Top with a dollop of Cool-whip (optional), grab your favorite Warcraft book, sit back and enjoy!

May 10, 2017

Here we kick off the second week in honor of my ten years in Azeroth. Back when I started playing, I was a classic noob. I knew nothing, and since there weren't many huge communities that exist like today, Thottbot and word of mouth were my only savior. In the past, I focused on a few stories about the dumb mistakes I made as a new player. Do I have a dozen more of those? You bet!

Lost in Kalimdor

I'm Forsaken so my questing experience started out in Eastern Kingdoms. At that time, I really had no concept to how large the world of Azeroth was. This was during the BC era so there were still only two continents aside from Outland. I remained on Eastern Kingdoms, and around level 30 one of my friends sent me a whisper: "Hey. You been to Orgrimmar yet?" Now my boyfriend and most of his other friends all picked races that started on Kalimdor. It had occurred to me that I could go over there, but the truth was, I had no idea how to even get there!

I replied: "No, I haven't." He came to me and guided me to the zeppelin. He explained that I could use this to get back and fourth to each continent. Before I knew it, we were in Durator. Everything was so desert like and very different from Eastern Kindgoms. He showed me the city and I ogled all the high level players. He brought me around Durator and showed me the troll village. We were having fun then suddenly he had to log. Alright. There I was, stuck in Durator with little knowledge on how to get back to the zeppelin. I left the troll area and began making my way up the road. I knew the zeppelin was around the gates of Orgrimmar (it used to be outside before the revamp), so I figured once I got close I would see it.

Suddenly I stopped dead in my tracks. In front of me was a town that I didn't remember going through. We had walked along the coast because my friend wanted to show me the crag harpies. I was told that gold dragons around a name meant to stay away because I'd die. In fact, I'm sure I was having Son of Arugal flashbacks. These guards around the town not only had a dragon around their name but were also a red skull level to me. I was scared, so instead of going through the town, I went back around, fighting my way through harpies. I eventually made it to the zeppelin and back to the comfort of Eastern Kingdoms. This little adventure slipped my mind until way later when I was a higher level. I realized the town I stumbled upon was no other than Razor Hill and would have posed no threat to me. I felt really silly looking back on it. I eventually let my friends know about this little story, and they all had a laugh at my expense as well.

The Tale of the Holy Shroud

I have vivid memories of running certain dungeons over and over. Those dungeons include Wailing Caverns, the three in Scarlet Monastery, and Shadowfang Keep. Shadowfang Keep has earned it's place as one of my all time favorite dungeons. I liked it back then, and I still enjoy the revamp. I ran the place so much, that I saw an item called the Holy Shroud drop twice. My alt priest got the first one, and I decided to sell the second one. I was still new to the game, so I had no idea it was a decent helm for a healing twink. I put it up on the AH for probably a fraction of what it was worth and didn't think about it again.

I remember I was questing through Stranglethorn Vale at the time when I received a message from someone asking about the shroud. They said they were a bit short on what I was asking and wondered if I could sell it to them via trade for what they had. Since they asked so nicely, I decided to just give them the item free of cost - Ouch. They were very grateful, thanked me a ton, and we both went on our separate ways. The thought of that exchange never crossed my mind after that day.

Fast forward to quite some time later. I was max level, in a raiding guild, and doing pretty good for myself in terms of gold. I get a random whisper from this person: "Hey! Remember me?" My mind started thinking of PUGs ran with and even old guildies, but nothing clicked. I told the player: "No, I'm sorry I don't remember you." His next reply: "You gave me a Holy Shroud a long time ago when I didn't have the gold." What?! I have no idea how they remembered, but they did. After a small exchange, they asked to meet up and paid me back for my kindness with a lot more gold than I originally had the shroud listed for. I guess the moral of this story is that sometimes a little kindness effects a person in a bigger way than you could imagine.

While the first was an embarrassing moment, the second story definitely left a lasting impression on me. Nice players so make for a positive impact in the game. I hoped you enjoyed these two small stories. I'm sure later in the future I will continue to tell the ones that I haven't really discussed. Before I go, I want to remind everyone of the battle pet giveaway I promised last week. It is now live and will run until 5-15. You can find out more information about it by following the link to the tweet right here! Good luck!